Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 27

27

* APRIL 2018

Weissland 'optimistic' about the new Jetta
Weissland said he sees further growth for
VW Canada in 2018 as the group continues to
from being known either for the scandal or
push the Tiguan utility vehicle and is hopeonly as the maker of small cars.
ful about others.
"We will focus on innovations to
"I'm very optimistic about the
strengthen our brand. Innovations
new Jetta because the car, the
could be within current cars and
product, is amazing, even if the
even small features of a car,"
segment is declining," he said.
Weissland said. "And at the same
Long-term, Weissland said his
time, you also follow innovations
goal is to position Volkswagen for
with new trends, such as autonosuccess in Canada as vehicle techVW Canada CEO
mous driving and electrification."
nology advances and as consumDaniel Weissland
Despite the diesel scandal and
said the new Jetta er tastes in products and the purVW offering only three light-truck
chasing process change.
is "amazing,"
offerings in a market that's increas- regardless of
"I didn't come here to just keep
ingly shunning cars, the VW
them doing what we have done.
whether the segbrand's sales gained 16 per cent in
ment is declining. Over the next few years, there are
2017 from a year earlier. Likewise,
so many challenges that we have
the VW group rose 17 per cent on the year,
out there. I want to make sure that we're preaccording to the Automotive News Data
pared for them and that we are prepared to
Center.
step out of our comfort zone." - ANC
CONTINUED FROM PA GE 1

Landry: Cross-shopping in one mall is the 'future'
CONTINUED FROM PA GE 1

open up doors or change our relationship in
Canada," Landry said during a March call
with investors. "It's two different countries,
and they operate independently, as they
should."
An auto mall with six brands - Audi,
Mercedes-Benz, Lincoln, Subaru, Volvo
and Volkswagen - is included in the deal.
Landry said he sees the auto mall, based
about two hours southwest of Chicago, Ill., as

a potential template for future dealerships.
"If someone's looking at an SUV, they
might want to look at SUVs for three of the
six brands that are there in that auto mall,"
he said. "And so, I really think it's part of
the future. It's up to the OEMs when they
approve such buildings, because they're a
deviation from the traditional big dealership
with a big parking lot and everything."
- ANC
Jamie LaReau of Automotive News
contributed to this report.

Automakers playing favourites on EV orders?
es its own fleet, had no problem acquiring 20 2018 Ford
Focus EVs that will arrive
this summer.

CONTINUED FROM PA GE 1

Cristen Fidler, who ordered
a Bolt sans test drive in
February 2017. He took delivery last September.
"My dealer still doesn't
have Bolts for people to see
in person," Fidler said via
Facebook, adding that his
salesperson has asked three
times that he bring his Bolt
back to show to potential
buyers.
"I've said yes each time
because I don't mind showing my car off."
Rob MacGregor brokers used-EV sales for a
Vancouver Honda dealer. He
considered expanding to new
EVs but found local dealers
could not promise timely
delivery.
"The situation is such
that new EVs are next
to impossible to get your
hands on," MacGregor told
Automotive News Canada.
"Yes, you can pre-order
them. Good luck. You're
probably going to wait a year
before you get one."

ALLOTMENT CUT

Vancouver's Regency
Volkswagen began taking
pre-orders for its 20-unit
allotment of e-Golfs last
September but quit a month
later under instructions
from VW Canada. Only
10 arrived, said co-owner
Patrick Zhang.
Regency was told to submit orders for confirmed
sales, said Zhang, but was
told it might take more than
a year to fill them.
VW Canada spokesman
Thomas Tetzlaff confirmed
the company stopped taking

While there generally
appears to be a long
wait for electric vehicles,
the Vancouver Police
Department had no problem ordering 20 Ford
Focus EVs, to be
delivered this summer.

orders but said production
hasn't ceased and Canada
expects to get three times
last year's allocation.
"We are doing what we
can to get sold orders built
as soon as possible, and have
made our customers aware
of the wait times via our consumer website," he said.
In Vancouver, the gap
between rising EV demand
and the ability buy or even
test-drive one has caught the
attention of the municipal
government.
A report in March by city
staff found only 30 per cent
of 27 Vancouver dealerships
offering EVs had any to sell
or a demo available.
The report claimed the
city encountered problems
expanding its own EV fleet
recently because, it said,
cars were being diverted to
U.S. states with zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandates,
essentially legislated sales
quotas. Quebec implemented its own ZEV mandate last
fall for model-year 2018.
"This is further reducing
the already limited availability of ZEV models locally,"
the report said.
Meanwhile, the
Vancouver Police
Department, which manag-

'OUT OF OUR JURISDICTION'
Ian Neville, policy analyst
with Vancouver's sustainability group, would not discuss details of December's
EV purchase (bringing
its fleet to more than 100)
because the city is preparing
to buy more.
But Neville said the
research (a secret-shopper
survey last fall) was alarming because ZEVs play a
major role in the city's goal
of carbon neutrality by 2050.
The city's objective mainly
was to flag the issue for the
provincial and federal governments.
"It's not something the
city can necessarily mandate," he said. "It's out of our
jurisdiction."
Automakers contacted
by Automotive News Canada
rejected the notion that ZEV
mandates are behind perceived shortages.
Toyota's decision to roll
out the Prius Prime plug-in
hybrid and Mirai fuel-cell
EV in Quebec first pre-dated
the ZEV mandate, said VicePresident Stephen Beatty.
The province's consumers
simply seem readier than
other Canadians to consider
an EV.
"I think Quebec does a
much better job of creating,
if you'll excuse the term,
a national agenda," said
Beatty, adding "you want to
have enough [EVs] concentrated in the marketplace
to be able to make a statement."- ANC

GM squeaks to top of sales
charts with 0.1% March gain
Despite start of
a possible global
trade war, consumer
confidence grew
By JEREMY SINEK

TORONTO CORRESPONDENT

AUTO SALES INCHED DOWN
0.5 per cent in March; it was
hardly a headline-making
month on the face of it. Below
the surface, however, there
were some notable achievements.
Prime among them, a 0.1-percent gain for GM Canada (over
a strong year-ago month) was
enough to vault it to first in
sales from third, not just for
the month, but year-to-date. It
capped GM's best first quarter
since 2008, with sales up six per
cent year-to-date in an overall
market up two per cent.
Total sales in Canada of
186,993 made it the second-best
March in history. Despite Good
Friday falling in the month,
the stats were based on the
same number of selling days
as last year. However, said
David Adams, president of the
Global Automakers of Canada,
"We effectively had the start
of a global trade war in March,
which saw the stock market fall
off precipitously, which perhaps rattled consumers a bit
last month, along with some
flagging economic growth projections.
"Nonetheless, consumer confidence remains high, with the
Conference Board of Canada
reporting that consumer confidence levels grew again in
March," he added.
March Ford and Fiat
Chrysler sales dipped 1.6 and 7.7
per cent, respectively, further
eroding Detroit's market share,
which despite GM's strength
now stands at 44 per cent yearto-date, down from 45 per cent
in the first quarter of last year.

F SERIES LOSES SALES LEAD
Part of GM's success was

MOVERS & SHAKERS
Compared with the
same month a year ago

Lexus LS: +780%
Lincoln Navigator: +391%
Audi A5: +388%
Chevrolet Suburban: +298%
VW light truck: +239%
Jeep Wrangler: +217%
Porsche Panamera: +212%
Nissan Leaf: +194%
Toyota Prius: +177%
VW Jetta: -65%
Mazda5: -63%
Jaguar XF: -62%
Land Rover Discovery Sport: -61%
Chevrolet Trax: -61%

FULL OF SURPRISES
Fiat 500X: -98%
Fiat Brand: -85%
Infiniti QX30: -75%
Jeep Renegade: -74%
Chrysler 300: -72%
Dodge Challenger: -71%

Combined sales of the
Chevrolet Silverado and
GMC Sierra toppled sales
of the Ford F series.
(PHOTO: GENERAL MOTORS)

another upset: Sales of its
Silverado/Sierra full-size pickups topped those of Ford F
Series, the truck that has dominated Canada. Year-to-date,
the F series is down 14 per cent
while Silverado/Sierra are
down 0.5 per cent.
FCA's weak March came
despite the continuing infatuation with the redesigned Jeep
Wrangler. The off-road icon
more than tripled its sales in
March and year-to-date it ranks
an unprecedented seventh overall in sales by nameplate.
FCA's biggest seller, the Ram
pickup, was up seven per cent
in March; the Pacifica had its
best single month ever; Jeep
brand sales were up 44 per cent;
and Alfa Romeo sales surged
500 per cent.
How did FCA end up eight
per cent in the hole? Blame
it on Chrysler and Dodge cars
(down 58 per cent), Dodge vans
(Journey and Caravan down a
combined 51 per cent), and anything with a Fiat badge (down
85 per cent combined).

TRUCK SALES PICK UP
In March, car sales sagged 12
per cent and light trucks surged
five per cent. That cemented
the not-cars' market share at 72
per cent through the first quarter, up from 69 per cent over the
same period last year.
New compact utilities continue to help drive the truck
growth. Volkswagen CUV sales
were up 238 per cent in March,
and Subaru Crosstrek sales
have more than doubled since
the 2018 redesign, while the
Hyundai Kona and Mitsubishi
Eclipse Cross scored 915 and 294
sales, respectively, in the first
full month for those newcomers.
Leading the charge for VW
were the redesigned compact
Tiguan (up 150 per cent in
March) and 745 copies of the
larger Atlas, which wasn't on
the market this time last year.
VW Canada even increased
sales of the outgoing (and much
more expensive) Touareg.
In Mitsubishi's case, the
introduction of the Eclipse
Cross was all gravy, as its other
crossovers, RVR and Outlander,
also grew their sales in March.
"As we close our fiscal
year and look toward our year
ahead, we are laser-focused on
our sport-utility business," said
Tony Laframboise, president
of Mitsubishi Motor Sales of
Canada.
In stark contrast, sales of the
Hyundai Tucson and Santa Fe
Sport fell sharply as the Kona
came on stream, suggesting a
degree of cannibalisation.
- ANC



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - April 2018

Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - Intro
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 1
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 2
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 3
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 4
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 5
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 6
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 7
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 8
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 9
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 10
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 11
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 12
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 13
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 14
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 15
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 16
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 17
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 18
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 19
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 20
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 21
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 22
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 23
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 24
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 25
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 26
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 27
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 28
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 29
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 30
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 31
Automotive News Canada - April 2018 - 32
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